Numerous requests were made to the NYSA to cancel this tournament and they were all blown off by the tournament director. When an organization puts the money before the safety of the players and family its a problem. I will make sure that my children's teams will no longer support any NYSA tournaments.

Soccerabe wrote:Looks fishy, cancel before fri you have to refund at least partial $. Wait till after sat. You get to keep it all, and you make a ton more cause you don't have to pay refs sunday! Genius Norman! When's Normans next one? Let's all support it.

They had that planned the whole time, it was genius. They made a killing a killing off this tourny, lol.

By the way, NYSA waited so long to make the cancellation announcement on Saturday night that all of the traveling teams got stuck with their hotel rooms. Even if they left Saturday evening they will still be charged for the night. So NYSA will even make more money off of the hotel rooms that they stuck people with. Well played NYSA, well played.

Well the email I received from NYSA, stated they would would give discounts to their next two touraments. It's your teams choice if you use it. Every team in the tourament played two of the three guarantee games. Give them a chance to make it right.

Fanofthegame wrote:Well the email I received from NYSA, stated they would would give discounts to their next two touraments. It's your teams choice if you use it. Every team in the tourament played two of the three guarantee games. Give them a chance to make it right.

They already had their chance to make it right. They could have cancelled the tournament earlier or even issued a partial refund. However, they took the money and ran. Plus they cancelled the tournament so late on Saturday that all of the traveling families got stuck paying for their hotel rooms whether they stayed or not. That's more money in NYSA's pocket due to this being a "stay to play" event. Even if they offered their future events for free our teams would not go.

I can 't speak for the club. But several coaches from our club (who coach multiple teams) have all said they will not be coming back to another NYSA event. I'm sure word will spread among our club's parents and coaches and those teams that did not attend will also consider not attending any further NYSA events.

I think several won't be back anytime soon. Can't speak for a club but our team won't return in spring. I heard in some age groups multiple teams were no shows. Nobody's fault, just a victim of circumstance that didn't go well. Now Norman tournaments will pay the price short term.

"All teams ages U8-U14 will receive a $100.00 credit/discount at the upcoming Orange Leaf Invitational on March 6-8 2015. All ages U15 and above will receive a $100.00 credit/discount at the upcoming OSC Classic Cup November 13-15th 2015."

I'm sorry, but that's a joke. If this is their idea of making it right, then they still have a long way to go before teams will consider coming back. This was a money grab, pure and simple.

Fanofthegame wrote:Why don't you call the tourament director, and let him know what you think of his 100.00. His number is listed on the tourament front page.

I've voiced my concerns before the tournament, during check in, and afterwards in emails. Dustin knows what I and many of the parents in our group think about this tournament and the way it has been handled. From here out I'll just withhold sending them anymore support financially by making sure we do not return to their events. NYSA needs to realize there are just too many other well run tournaments in this state and in neighboring states to pull this crap.

We have sent emails and hone calls but they won't answer unpaid 550 dollars for one team and played two games so u think 100 credit or discount is ok bull crap they should have cAncled from the start they knew what the weather was looking like for Sunday also my two teams and other teams from our club had to stay the night and spent over 200 just for a hotel room not counting gas and food so u think 100 is a good credit I will never play in a tournament thru this club again I understand they have to put some money out up front I'm not saying should be fill refund but should be more than 100

What I don't understand on the Oklahoma board, they are upset because NYSA cancelled on Saturday at 630. On the Texas board they are upset they didn't cancel on Saturday and they finish out the tourament in the sub freezing temps and snow. Can't win either way.

Did you not know the tournament was in November when you chose it and registered?

I'm not affiliated with NYSA, or any club any longer for that matter, but you can't put all the blame on them. Having run large tournaments before I can assure you they had just as many people asking that they go on as planned as they did those that wanted to cancel it. They were in a no win situation and made the decision they thought was best.

Your 2 or 3 teams make up about 1% of the tournament and your voice matters about that same 1%. You people need to start looking at it from the 200-300 team perspective instead of the 2-3 team perspective.

Bottom line-should have followed Oklahoma soccers lead. Take TSC out because as you say they are only one club or 1%. Why would you come? It would be extremely low level without Tsc academy. Did the Dallas teams even show I never saw their academy team? Time to move on lots of tournaments. Your right stay away from november ones!

voiceofreason wrote:Your 2 or 3 teams make up about 1% of the tournament and your voice matters about that same 1%. You people need to start looking at it from the 200-300 team perspective instead of the 2-3 team perspective.

Well if we're putting in perspective, then throw out that whole 200-300 team comment. I doubt there was more than 150 teams in all of the divisions at this event. Out of the roughly 150 teams 30 of them are probably from OFC and TSC. So that's 20% of your tournament from those 2 clubs. The parents, managers, and coaches of these teams talk within the club and many times will not attend a tournament based on the feedback. I know for sure that we have passed on a few tournaments based on the feedback of our club teams. So when a person makes the decision to choose the money over the safety of the players and families it reflects badly on the host club. This will result in less teams and, just as important, less quality teams attending future events. I realize that memories are short and over time teams will come back to NYSA tournaments. But I'm sure this will hurt them in the short term.

Well if we're putting in perspective, then throw out that whole 200-300 team comment. I doubt there was more than 150 teams in all of the divisions at this event. Out of the roughly 150 teams 30 of them are probably from OFC and TSC. So that's 20% of your tournament from those 2 clubs. The parents, managers, and coaches of these teams talk within the club and many times will not attend a tournament based on the feedback. I know for sure that we have passed on a few tournaments based on the feedback of our club teams. So when a person makes the decision to choose the money over the safety of the players and families it reflects badly on the host club. This will result in less teams and, just as important, less quality teams attending future events. I realize that memories are short and over time teams will come back to NYSA tournaments. But I'm sure this will hurt them in the short term.

Amazingly close...149 teams in final tournament posting. 19 from NOKC/ESC/OFC & 10 from TSC. Estimate that 1/3 of teams came from outside OKC metro region & had hotel for at least 1 night. I think the offer of $100 off is reasonable to the metro OKC teams, but probably pretty stingy relative to the non OKC teams. I'd be pretty surprised to see any TSC or Blitz teams in near future.

So 20% rules? I thought the majority ruled? And believe it or not the manager/form posters don't decide what tournament your kids go to. The coach does. So be as pissed as you want but that 20 something year old wearing shorts on the sideline still makes the decisions. Better learn that or you will become "baggage" in the coming years.

Oh, and as far as weak brackets go, when did the tournament director decide who entered? I'm pretty sure it's open to everyone. Stop trying blame them on a weak bracket. They can only work with the teams that apply.

If you guys/gals are so pissed, why don't you get involved with your clubs tournaments and see how things really work behind the scenes. I was once as cynical as you and did so, now I think you people are just a bunch of whiners.

You'll have a whole new respect for how these things come together if you'd spend as much time helping with brackets, recruiting teams, reserving tents/golf carts, ordering medals, scheduling, coordinating volunteers, coordinating medical staff, coordinating parking, coordinating check-in, reserving hotels, reserving rooms to accommodate check-in, scheduling refs (huge task), coordinating food for refs, marking fields, coordinating restrooms, analyzing capacity and resolving coaching conflicts (they are worse whiners than you BTW), as you do bitching about how bad a tournament is on this board. There are literally thousands of hours that go into giving your kids the opportunity to play! And you're going to bitch about how it's done? If you're going to bitch, you better be involved! If you're not involved then STFU.

Believe me, while it is a money maker for the clubs, a relatively small amount actually goes to the club. The rest supports the tournament, much of which is paid out before it even begins. Why should they be on the hook for your kids to play?

PLAYING CONDIDTIONSThe home team is listed first or on top in the schedule. Coaches and players will sit on designated side of field. Home team is to wear light colored uniform, away is to wear dark. In case of color conflict, the home team is responsible for changing. Each team must be prepared to provide a game ball to the referee prior to start of the game. In case of inclement weather, the Tournament Director will determine if a game is to be played. Games shall be considered complete if one half of the game has elapsed. The score at the stoppage of play will be the final score. ***If the tournament should be cancelled entirely due to weather, entry fees will be refunded with a 50% administration fee***

emphasis added.

Would you rather them cancelled the tournament Friday and kept half your money? After all, you did agree to the rules when you registered. You did read them before registering didn't you? Oh wait, you just did what that 20 something year old in shorts told you to do...

(A bit of advice, read the rules of any tournament before you enter. And while you're at it read the OSA rule book. Back in my day it was the GCSA green book. If I ran a club I would make it mandatory that every parent ready it and pass a test over it before you could sit on the sidelines to watch your kid play, but I digress.)

They still had many of the above (see previous post) said expenditures. Your kids got two games and are still getting a portion of their money back.

The refs still got paid.

That may not seem important to you, but you kind of need refs for your kids to play. If they don't get paid they don't come back and you don't have games in the future!

I'm guessing you got 2/3 of your games in (not counting finals). The entry fee was probably $400-500 depending on age group. Giving you a $100 credit later (and I bet you guys take it) pretty much eats all of their profits after what they had to pay out.

Personally, I think they would have been better off financially to cancel it entirely. You still would have been on the hook for hotels (48 hour cancellation policy anyone?), they still get that money and they save the $70 - $150 a game on refs that they had to pay for your kids to play those two games.

The way I see it, your kids got games, refs got paid, carts were rented, hotels were registered, and the club didn't make much money. As long as they don't raise the entry fee $100 next year I'd call it a wash for all involved.

Well, minus the thousands of man hours that went into it before hand...